Posted on 02/21/2024 5:18:28 AM PST by george76
Six large and "optionally crewed" naval vessels heavily armed with missiles will be added to Australia's surface fleet under a dramatic $11 billion reshaping of the navy that will also see the acquisition of 11 new general-purpose frigates to be partly built overseas.
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long-awaited "Enhanced Lethality Surface Combatant Fleet", which will include six Hunter-class frigates, reduced from an original plan of nine, as well as upgraded versions of the existing Hobart-class destroyers fitted with Tomahawk cruise missiles.
Under the sweeping overhaul, Australia's current fleet of combat-ready warships would rise from 11 to 26, consisting of nine "Tier 1" frigates and destroyers and 11 smaller general-purpose frigates, as well as six optionally crewed vessels which will form a "Tier 2" force.
Defence Minister Richard Marles said that, while the optionally crewed vessels had "the capacity to operate in an uncrewed fashion", Australia's intention was to use crews.
Australia's oldest currently serving warship, HMAS Anzac, will be immediately retired ahead of the gradual replacement of the aging Anzac-class fleet with new frigates which will first be built in either Germany, Korea, Japan or Spain.
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The planned number of Offshore Patrol Vessels being built in Western Australia will be halved to six and will eventually form part of a planned fleet of 25 minor war vessels dominated by Evolved Cape Class patrol boats.
The government will consider the eventual replacement for the Hobart-class destroyers "in the context of the 2026 National Defence Strategy" to align with a continuous naval shipbuilding strategy at Adelaide's Osborne Naval shipyard.
Releasing the plan at Sydney's Garden Island Naval base, Mr Marles insisted the plan was "fully funded" and would inject an additional $1.7 billion over the forward estimates and $11.1 billion over the next decade into defence.
"The enhanced lethality surface combatant fleet will ensure the navy is optimised for operations in our current and future environment, underpinned by the meticulous assessment conducted by the Independent Analysis Team," Mr Marles said.
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This significant advancement in navy capability that will be delivered under this plan requires a strong, sovereign defence industry," Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy added.
The Chief of Navy, Vice Admiral Mark Hammond, called it "a serious investment and a serious challenge for our navy to step up and deliver".
"This is a real shot in the arm in terms of understanding the important role that the Australian navy sailors play across the Indo-Pacific," he said.
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"This will be the largest surface combatant force we've operated in generations. It will also be, in time, the most lethal."
Coalition defence spokesman Andrew Hastie accused Mr Marles of weakness for failing to deliver enough short-term extra funding.
"The truth is that Richard Marles went to cabinet and lost to Jim Chalmers, Penny Wong and Katy Gallagher. He couldn't secure any more money," he said.
"Labor also has a major recruitment and retention crisis on its hands. Morale is at an all-time low … What is their strategy to find and hold talented young Australians to crew both our future submarines and our future fleet?"
You can send as many Ships or guns to a country. But can Australia muster the manpower strength to use them?
I say this knowing the US Military readiness is becoming disturbingly woke.
Australia, unlike the US, neighbors its adversaries.
Board, reprogram, off to Tortuga…
“optionally crewed”
Say what? 🤔
“Optionally crewed” means the ships are being designed for remote control or perhaps autonomous control by AI.
I don’t know much about Australian politics, but it is evident that China is expanding in their influence and making aggressive statements. As with Finland and Poland, the threat of aggression has diminished pacifist sentiments. Keep in mind that Australia is the primary source for iron ore for Red China’s steel mills. The two countries have been at odds over pricing issues for the iron ore. The Australians, like the Japanese, South Koreans, and Taiwanese, must worry about American military capability and political reliability.
I hadn’t read of iron ore, but importing Aussie COAL is big with Red China.
“the ships are being designed for remote control or perhaps autonomous control by AI”
I hope they have better luck with that than Tesla
Not that I’m an expert in such matters but I’d think that both Australia and New Zealand should be concerned about Red China’s increasing strength in the Pacific and our increasing weakness.
What little I know about Australia’s economy suggests that she’s become just another mining colony for her neighbor to the north.
What happens when an autonomous war vessel gets hacked to attack the country it came from? That is a distinct possibility. Any device without an air gap can be hacked, given enough time.
Skynet.
Both coal and iron ore. The Chinese and the Australians have had disputes over the price of iron ore. The Chinese have been looking for other sources, and have spent several billion dollars to develop iron mines in Guinea, West Africa. Along with the Russians, the Chinese have been gradually been gaining control in West Africa, especially in the former French colonies.
Given China’s entry into the Solomons it would more accurately be her neighbor to the East and a much closer neighbor as well.
Maybe should be : “optionally screwed”.
Australia has also disarmed it’s citizenry. A close friend of mine had to turn in his firearms, which he did, and was then facing legal issues due to his collection of replica firearms. Apparently the government down under is afraid they can be made functional. Me thinks that they need to worry more about China than a 70 year old man’s toy gun collection.
(I'm largely recovered but it was a nasty scare).
The current (Labor) federal government has done more than I expected them to do with this announcement, but I don't believe it's anywhere near enough. I just don't ever expect much on defence when Labor is in office (to their credit, they have continued to support the AUKUS arrangements and the idea of acquiring nuclear attack submarines - I never expected to see any support for that from a Labor government in this country, so I have to acknowledge they might be slowly moving in the right direction on defence).
I think they may be putting a great deal of faith in the idea that 'optionally crewed' vessels will develop into something useful, but given how difficult it can be to get people to join the forces now, that may be a basket we have to put eggs in for practical reasons.
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